IN DEPTH
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AS ONE OF LIFE'S NECESSITIES, FOOD HAS HAD R EGULATION
grow evermore comprehensive and complex just as the industries growing,
supplying and processing it have innovated and carved new niches. At the same
time, consumers have in part driven the demand for greater food choice and
want industry governance and compliance frameworks in place to ensure those
demands are met.
It's no longer just food safety laws -- those stipulating hygiene and quality
standards for production and supply -- that the contemporary consumer is
most worried about, but the composition of food, origin, means of production
a nd potential health effects now weigh upon purchasing decisions.
The Blewett Report, Labelling Logic: Review of Food Labelling Law and
Policy 2011, recognised "the growing consumer demand for information on
food labels ... that align with personal values and ethics", or consumer values
about organic foods, or products that do not harm or have not been tested on
animals, or products that do not damage the environment.
Credibility on line
Welcome to the brave and not-so-new world of credence claims -- they have
been around in a form since 'fat free' and 'contains real fruit' appeared on
packaging and in advertisements when food processing ramped up in the 1970s
and 1980s -- but have proliferated to the point of ubiquity.
In 2009, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
inter vened when advised that some products may have been mislabelled 'extra-
virgin olive oil' (denoting the highest-grade oil extracted from the first press of
fresh olives) and Chair Graeme Samuel described a 'credence claim' as arising
when consumers "can't tell whether oil is extra virgin just by looking at, or
tasting it, so they have to rely on the credibility of the supplier to provide truthful
and accurate information."
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Deceit in what you eat
A slew of recent ACCC decisions about
poultry farming highlights the perils of
misleading and deceptive food labelling
where industry must second-guess
consumers' understanding.
BY STEV E N CHONG
Defining terms
Free range -- standards vary but ready daylight
access to outdoors is all but unanimous,
and maximum outdoor stocking densities of
750--20,000 birds/hectare
Barn-raised -- hens free to roam within a shed
that may have more than one level. The floor
may be based on litter and/or other material
such as slats or wire mesh
Open range -- cattle are free to roam on
publicly accessible grazing land
Cage free -- includes eggs laid in barns, free-
range and organic systems
Country of origin -- must have been
substantially transformed in the country being
claimed; and at least 50 per cent of the costs to
produce or manufacture the goods must occur
Australia-made or Australian product --
as above regarding Australia. 'Product of
Australia' requires each significant ingredient/
component to originate from Australia and
nearly all production to occur there.